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Development and Implementation of a Development and Implementation of a Sustainable GIS at theSustainable GIS at the

West/Rhode Riverkeeper OrganizationWest/Rhode Riverkeeper Organization

Timothy LovePenn State University & West / Rhode Riverkeeper

Chris TrumbauerWest / Rhode Riverkeeper

Charles Andy ColePenn State University Department of Landscape Architecture

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ProjectMotivation

• September 23, 2008: 40,000 Fish Killed in a creek within the West/Rhode Watershed of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland

NOTA

RAREOCCURRENCE.

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ProjectMotivation

Courtesy CBF Courtesy CBF

Chesapeake Bay Water Quality: 2008

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ProjectMotivation

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ProjectObjectives

• Develop and implement a core, sustainable GIS within the West/Rhode Riverkeeper Organization (WRR) of the Waterkeeper Alliance.

• Enhance the value of WRR’s water quality analyses using tools designed for non-GIS experts.

• Promote adoptable geospatial techniques for similar watershed organizations.

• Focus on a core set of parameters to be used by WRR to provide value-added Report Card type analyses.

• Create sharable spatial information for public and non-profit organizations as well as other scientific agencies

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West & Rhode Riversof The Chesapeake Bay

Rhode

West

Washington

Baltimore

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• WRR Mission

– Protect families and communities by stopping pollution

– Strive for healthy and safe rivers and streams

– Work together with communities to enforce environmental law, promote restoration, and advocate for better environmental policy.

– Monitor water quality data and provide analyses

• Staff– 1 FTE– 3 PTE– 10’s of Volunteers

The West / RhodeRiverkeeper

Courtesy Kent Roberts

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WR Water QualityMonitoring Locations

• Map shows routine observation sites from all organizations within the WR Watershed

• Includes tidal and non-tidal stations

• This information is shared between all partners

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WRR Water QualityMonitoring

• Volunteer-based water sampling

• Observations physically measured by hand-held instrumentation

• 30 active monitoring sites

• Most sites accessible from water only; some by land

• Station realignment part of project objective

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WRR Water QualityMonitoring

Courtesy YSI

• Standardization of observations is critical

• Considerations:

• Instrument calibration

• Volunteer training

• Sampling location

• Repeatability

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• Lack of spatial maps for analyses

• Difficult to read tabular data

• Text data difficult to use for other purposes

• Point data insufficient for entire audience: Not Spatially Continuous

• Minimal experience with GIS software & techniques

Historical WRRWater Quality Products

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• Planning of all aspects

• Inventory of data and data users

• Database creation and maintenance

• Scripting & Automation for all routine processes

• Interpolation of vector water quality parameters

• Cartography & symbology implementations

• Documentation and Metadata creation

• Training of WRR staff and partner organizations

GIS ActivitiesConducted Within this Project

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ProjectProjectComponentsComponents

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• Roughly 25% of project timeline devoted to planning– ~3 months– ~275 hours

ProjectPlanning

• Used an iterative approach

• Engaged in frequent consultations with stakeholders

• Assumed volunteer-based resource availability

• Investigated existing capabilities & information

• Designed an approach to satisfy multiple customers

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• Considerations were mutually dependent

• Factors considered:– Cost, initial and ongoing; Funding options– Functionality – Availability of support: technical & troubleshooting– Compatibility with existing infrastructure– Existing user knowledge

• Determination:• ArcGIS Desktop; Windows Laptop PC

Analysis & ProcurementSoftware / Hardware

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• Sources:– WRR– Smithsonian Environmental Research Center– George Mason University (GMU)– Chesapeake Bay Program– MD Department of Natural Resources

• Parameters– Dissolved oxygen, Water clarity, Bacteria, Salinity,

Water temperature, pH– Near-real time & historical records– Data formats

DataInventory

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• All current and prospective users of WR water quality data:– Government decision makers– WRR– Partner Riverkeepers– SERC, DNR, USGS, NOAA– Volunteers– Researchers– The Public: Residents, Boaters, Fishermen,

Swimmers, Beachgoers

Data UserInventory

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• Approx 1350 lines of optimized code• Download & import raw WQ data• Add to map & join to master file• Perform quality control• Define projection and system• Perform IDW interpolation• Integrate with Geodatabase• Apply symbologies• Create static graphics for web• Populate ArcMap templates

VBArcObjectsScripting

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GeodatabaseConsiderations

• Goal: Focus on storage of the core set of parameters and incorporate critical pre-existing spatial base layers

• Based on user requirements, uses Personal Geodatabase

• Fields, attributes defined to minimize disk space

• Geodatabase placed on laptop PC and archived via external hard drive

• Geodatabase works seamlessly with other project subtasks (data conversion, interpolations, archival)

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• Goals– Determine the most appropriate

methodologies for estimations of core parameters

– Develop a tool to allow WRR users to quickly create interpolations

– Provide input to location of monitoring stations

• Determinations– IDW using a constant 3 input points provides

a continuously accurate interpolation– A single method did indeed produce

reasonable results for all parameters– Usage of barrier lines was problematic

InterpolationAutomation

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• A set of templates used by WRR staff for their primary GIS activities/analyses– User friendly, easy to learn– Solid and concise, rather than elaborate and unmanageable

• Thoughtful symbologicaldefinitions for all layers

• Tools created within this project reside here

• Linked to Geodatabase

Operational SoftwareTemplate

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• George Mason University Systems Engineering group developed a plan to increase usability of water quality monitoring program. Their goals:

– Increased accuracy of parameter measurements

– Reduced data transmission latency

– Optimal placement of monitoring station locations

• My goal was to ensure that their project effectively incorporated GIS aspects of WRR

• Ensured that this project incorporated their results

GMU TeamInteraction

Courtesy GMU

Courtesy GMU

Courtesy YSI

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GMU TeamInteraction

ManyRedundancies

CriticalNew

Locations

Old SiteLocations

ProposedLocations

MissingRegions

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• Report Card summarizes the state of water quality in the WR Watershed Rivers

• To provide value-added spatial analyses and graphical products

• A primary deliverable of this project

• WQ products yielded the basic format for the automated graphic tool

Inputs to 2008 WRRReport Card

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Final Products

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• Goal: Provide sufficient documentation for WRR personnel to understand, run, and maintain all project deliverables

• Introduce / familiarize basic GIS concepts to WRR & Riverkeepers

• Provide relevant Metadata for each spatial field– FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata

(CSDGM), Vers. 2

• Produced documentation in multiple formats:– PowerPoint; Digital Documents; XML; Hardcopy; Oral

Presentations

Documentation

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• Goals include sustainability and collaboration

• Based on accompanying documentation

• Focused on hands-on spatial applications and GIS basic theory

• Primarily 1-on-1 and small group sessions

• Target audience is WRR organization, partner Riverkeepers, and other Bay organizations

• To be held September 2009 for 10 Riverkeeper and partner organizations

Training

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Fish Kill:Algae Bloom

• Algae bloom appears on surface due to excessive nutrients in water, then falls to bottom of river

• Algae begins decomposing and consumes oxygen in process

• O2 approaches minimum threshold for fish survival

• Nighttime processes further reduce O2 levels

• Fish cannot survive

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Fish KillRevisited

• Imagery clearly depicted reduced dissolved oxygen levels in area of fish kill

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• W/R Riverkeeper:– http://www.westrhoderiverkeeper.org/

• Penn State Geography Department:– http://www.geog.psu.edu/

• George Mason University Systems Engineering:– http://www.seor.gmu.edu/

• Chesapeake Bay Foundation:– http://www.cbf.org/

• Waterkeeper Alliance:– http://www.waterkeeper.org

Links

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• West / Rhode Riverkeeper

• Penn State Dept. of Landscape Architecture

• Penn State Dept. of Geography

• George Mason University

• DNR, SERC, USGS, NOAA

Thanks!

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QuestionsQuestions&&

Comments?Comments?